Sherwin-Williams Fourth Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) will unveil its latest earnings tomorrow, Thursday, January 31, 2013. Sherwin-Williams is a manufacturer and distributor of paint, coatings and related products. While its professional, industrial, commercial and retail customers are mainly in North and South America, the company also has operations in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.

Sherwin-Williams Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of $1.15 per share, a rise of 32.2% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. The average estimate is the same as three months ago. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate was unchanged. It also has not changed during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 32.5% versus last year to $6.52.

Past Earnings Performance: The company has beaten estimates the last four quarters and is coming off a quarter where it topped forecasts by 5 cents, reporting net income of $2.24 per share against a mean estimate of profit of $2.19 per share.

A Look Back: In the third quarter, profit rose 30.6% to $235 million ($2.24 a share) from $179.9 million ($1.71 a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue rose 4.8% to $2.6 billion from $2.48 billion.

Here’s how Sherwin-Williams traded following its last earnings report 3 months ago and leading up to its upcoming earnings report this week: